DJIA Today Moving on these Top 7 News Stories

Good Morning! Stock futures for Friday, March 20,
forecasted a 141-point gain for the DJIA today from yesterday’s
close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 117 points
on Thursday thanks to a slump in oil and commodity prices and a
stronger dollar that weighed down energy and material stocks.

What to Watch Today:

Keep an ear to two speeches from members of the Federal Reserve,
Charles Evans and Dennis Lockhart. They will be scrutinized for any
insight on when the central bank could increase interest rates.

Investors with a focus abroad will keep an eye on the German
producer price index for February and a report on consumer prices
in Canada. In addition, markets are reacting to a release of policy
notes by the Bank of Japan and a speech by the Reserve Bank of
Australia on the future of the Asia-Pacific markets.

Here’s what else you should know about the DJIA
today – including your
”
Money Morning

Tip of the Day”

 – to make it a profitable Friday:

• 
  

  To the Skies:

  Shares of
  Amazon.com Inc.

  (Nasdaq:
  AMZN

  ) were up this morning on news that the FAA has granted the
  company approval to test delivery drones in Washington state. The
  federal agency’s approval is a big step forward for Amazon, as it
  aims to bring its “Prime Air” delivery service forward in major
  metropolitan areas. The deal will allow the firm to test the
  service and possibly bring it to the wider population in the
  coming years.

• Electric Groove:

  Shares of
  Tesla Motors Co.

  (Nasdaq:
  TSLA

  ) were up this morning roughly 1% after the firm announced new
  software upgrades aimed to reduce “range anxiety.” The electric
  car manufacturer revealed the in-car application that notifies
  Model S owners when their vehicles begin to run low on power. The
  firm also said it will have self-driving cars in the U.S. by
  summer. So, is this announcement a game-changer for Tesla and its
  CEO Elon Musk? Here’s how the moonshot entrepreneur did with the
  presentation yesterday.

• Going Public:

  Internet hosting company GoDaddy Inc. (
  GDDY

  ) announced a range of $17 to $19 for its initial public
  offering. The company will list itself on the New York Stock
  Exchange under the symbol GDDY this morning. The IPO is a long
  time coming for the online company. It had originally filed to go
  public in 2006, but withdrew its plan at the time. Here’s how
  we’re playing GDDY stock after the IPO…

• Biotech Boom:

  Shares of drug maker
  Biogen Idec Inc.

  (Nasdaq:
  BIIB

  ) jumped nearly 7% this morning on news the company has released
  a positive report on its latest drug aimed at treating
  early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Although the preliminary study
  is early in its results, the promising drug has shown evidence of
  reducing cognitive decline. The biotech stock is up roughly 42%
  since December.

• Earnings Beat:

  Shares of
  Nike Inc.

  (NYSE:
  NKE

  ) jumped nearly 4.5% in pre-market hours on news the company
  reported a quarterly net income jump of 16%. The sports apparel
  retailer reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $0.89 per
  share on revenue of $7.46 billion. This report beat Wall Street
  per-share projections of $0.84 on $7.62 billion in sales. Despite
  beating earnings, the company’s sales figures came in lower than
  expected due to downward effects of the surging U.S. dollar.

• Oil Prices Today:

  WTI crude slipped another 0.8% this morning. Prices are headed
  for their fifth-consecutive weekly loss. Brent crude fell another
  1.1% to $53.82 per barrel. The declines came on news that Kuwaiti
  oil ministers said OPEC would be forced to continue
  production despite crashing prices around the globe.
  Meanwhile, prices are still falling on the slight possibility
  that the U.S. and Iran are able to work out a deal over the
  latter’s nuclear program.

• Earnings Reports:

  Investors can expect earnings reports today from
  Tiffany Co.

  (NYSE:
  
  TIF

  ),
  Darden Restaurants Inc.

  (NYSE:
  
  DRI

  ),
  KB Home

  (NYSE:
  
  KBH

  ), and
  Cheetah Mobile Inc.

  (Nasdaq:
  
  CMCM

  ).

Full U.S. Economic Calendar March 20, 2015

• Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations at 10 a.m.
• Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart speaks
  at 10:20 a.m.
• Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans speaks
  at 11:30 a.m.

Money Morning

Tip of the Day:

General Electric Co. (
GE

) stock is a “Buy.” It’s a solid dividend payer that will see
increased investor demand on several factors.

Today’s tip comes from
Money Morning

Executive Editor Bill Patalon:

When a Wall Street investment bank, hedge-fund manager, or
sell-side analyst starts backing a stock, it can attract the kind
of liquidity that drives up its value in a big way.

And that’s just what’s happening with
General Electric Co.

(NYSE:
GE

), the makeover-in-progress conglomerate we first recommended in
January 2014.

GE’s shares have slipped about 4.75% since we recommended it
(although we’re at breakeven if you include dividends). So we may
have been a bit early on our call.But we weren’t wrong.

We believe several factors – the surge in the U.S. dollar, the
slowing global economy, and the odds that the Federal Reserve
will soon raise interest rates – will bolster investor demand for
stocks like GE. It’s a solid dividend payer, a turnaround in the
making, and a stealth player in some new markets.

Suddenly, we’re not alone in our views on
GE stock

.

Tom Huber, who has run the T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth Fund
(MUTF:
PRDGX

) since 2000, named GE as his “best stock pick” in a recent

Barron’s

interview.

“After not owning General Electric for many years, we’ve come
back to the stock in the past six months,” he told the investment
weekly. “It makes sense right now to own some large-cap,
high-yielding names with durable businesses.”

The current consensus on GE is $29 a share – with a high-water
estimate of $33.

The bottom line: We’ve been saying for more than a year that
GE is a stock you want to own. Now a heavy-hitter mutual-fund
manager is telling folks the same thing.

To read more about why GE is a “Buy” right now, check out
Patalon’s recent Private Briefing column:

A Big-Time Fund Manager Shares His “Best Pick”